Late Night Comforts
by lunarWhimsy
Summary: Karezi fluff (?) Terezi finds Karkat alone in his room and is determined to cheer him up the only way she knows how- with justice. Rated T for language.


Yes... They said it couldn't be possible. They never believed I could ever write a fanfiction... That wasn't smutty!

Seriously though my friends all seem to have that impression of me. I wrote ONE fic? Maybe have like 50 unpublished? Whatever.

I am kinda terrible at writing fluff, so this is my way of practicing. Enjoy!

* * *

She found him in his room, curled up in the corner, sobbing as quietly as he could. He didn't notice her at first, and she would have walked straight past him had it not been for the slight cherry scent that she now recognised as his tears. Terezi hovered in the doorway, unsure if she should run and get Gamzee or leave her friend to calm down on his own. The thought of Makara appearing, leering at her as he passed sent a shiver of disgust down her spine. No, she'd have to take care of this herself. First things first she'd have to figure out what was wrong. By the looks of things, he'd been there for quite a while; it was going to be difficult to get him to open up after so long. She took a step forward, and another sob shook the boy in front of her. She faltered slightly. He would hate her seeing him like this.

"Karkat?" She asked hesitantly. He jerked up immediately, wiping a hand furiously across his face. He was trying to get rid of the tell-tale red streaks from his cheeks. Why he even bothered she would never know, but old habits die hard.

"Terezi!" He blurted, still rubbing his eyes, "I'm a little fucking busy at the moment, in case your stupid nose couldn't tell." He tried to sound harsh, but the wobble in his voice took all the aggression out of the statement. She squared her shoulders. "Of course I can tell, Karcrab," She hoped the nickname would help put him at ease, "I wanted to know what the matter was."

He growled as menacingly as possible. "Nothing's the matter, Pyrope. I'm fine. Go… lick something. I don't know, whatever you fucking do. Just leave me alone." He curled back into a ball and turned away from her. Terezi debated for a moment. She could just do as he asked. But then he might start crying again, and she didn't really want that.

She could also find out what was wrong. But how? How did you get someone like Karkat to talk about their feelings? He didn't seem like the type to just open his heart to anyone. She could make him talk. Yes, like an interrogation. She was good at getting people to confess. Terezi took a deep breath and did what she did best. She began to pace around the room, until she smelt Karkat turn round to glare at her. When he saw her smirk he whirled back round stubbornly. Terezi grinned. "The defendant is feeling a little shy today, is he? He does not wish to give his testimony."

Karkat groaned. "Let's not do this, Terezi. I'm not in the mood."

She ignored him. "Let us examine the facts. The witness- in this case that's me- states that she was walking through the corridors of the meteor we reside on at this very moment, and came across the defendant in this room, obviously in distress. She could have done the easiest thing, she tells the jury. She could have gone and fetched his moirail. Anyone would have done the same." She paused for dramatic effect. She could hear Karkat sniffing, but almost smelt a smirk. "But as the noble, honourable do-gooder that she is, the witness bravely ventured forth into the murky unknown to find the source of the problem."

Karkat was trying to hide his smile. "You're a fucking idiot, Terezi. There isn't even a jury." He told her. She continued. "But what is the source of the problem? Well your honour, we simply don't have enough evidence at this time to release a statement."

"Who the fuck is 'your honour'?"

She turned to him, still grinning. "Why, the defendant appears to have found his voice! Tell us, dear Mr Vantas. Allow the jury to hear your case."

He shrunk back against the wall. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Well Mr Vantas," She raised her arm, indicating an imaginary row of people behind her. "I'm afraid that we cannot help you. Unless the evidence is provided for the court the prosecutor will have to pack up and find another case."

When there was no reply, Terezi lost her smile. She turned to leave, deciding that (sort of) real court cases were much more fun when everyone played their part. But as she stood, she felt a hand dart out to grasp her own. "Wait!" Karkat snapped. Then he said, quieter, "I didn't fucking say I wanted you to leave."

Terezi smiled. Instead of her dramatic legislacerator voice, she spoke normally. "Knew you'd weaken eventually. No one escapes the power of Redglare."

"Urgh, you and your shitty roleplaying. You didn't help, by the way." Karkat frowned stubbornly. Terezi sat down beside him. "I don't think that's true, Karcrab. Did I detect the rare and delicious scent of a _smile_ earlier?"

"No you fucking didn't." He snapped. But the heat had gone from his voice. "You're so fucking ridiculous and gross."

"And yet here I am." She pointed out. Karkat glared at his knees.

"So do you want to tell me what's wrong, or should I leave?" She asked finally, after a moment of awkward silence. He gripped her hand tighter. "No! I… Uh… Fuck. Fine. Just don't leave me, okay?"  
Terezi gave his hand a squeeze. "I'm right here, Karkat. What's up?"  
He took a deep breath. It was obviously difficult for him not to yell at her, to push her away so she wouldn't see the tears.

"I fucking failed, okay? I'm a failure."

Whatever Terezi had been expecting, it wasn't that. If her eyes worked she would have blinked incredulously. "What do you mean? You aren't a failure!" She insisted. Karkat shrugged.  
"You don't need to lie. I was a shitty leader and I'm a shitty moirail and I'm a shitty friend. I fucked up, Terezi. I almost got everyone killed because I was so obsessed with leadership." He ran a hand through his hair. "And fuck knows where Gamzee is these days, I couldn't keep an eye on that clown if I fucking tried…" he trailed off, and Terezi swore she smelt him shoot her a glance. Did he know? She didn't want him to know, not yet. It was hard enough dealing with it herself. But he shrugged again and continued. "I don't even know what's going on anymore. We've all almost died like a hundred times. The humans seem to be as clueless as us, I don't even know if we should have started talking to them in the first place and…"

Terezi grabbed his face, startling him into silence. "Karkat." She said firmly, "You keep talking, but all I hear is 'blah blah blah'."  
He pulled away from her. "Fuck, thanks for the fucking comfort Terezi."  
"No! I'm saying that you keep reeling off all these problems, but have you ever considered that it's all stuff you can't really control? Like the leadership thing, for example," she rolled her eyes. "Yes, you possibly could have done some things that may have saved a few lives. Maybe if you'd changed some things our universe could have been recreated and we could have won the game."

"Terezi!"

"I'm not finished! All that is_ possibly_ true. But it's not like we can be certain! Maybe if you'd done all that other stuff, more problems would have happened. Maybe it would have been worse. And besides," She broke off with a small chuckle, "Your team mates weren't exactly the easiest to play with, right? We fucked up just as much as you did."

Karkat frowned. "You think so?"

"Sure!" she slapped him on the back, "You weren't a bad leader. There was a bunch of stuff that got in the way of your insane leadership skills."

He laughed. "You're starting to sound like Strider."

Terezi made a face. "Oh, fuck. If I start talking like Mr Cool- Dude you promise to cull me, right?"

This time, Karkat's laugh was genuine. "Don't worry, I will.

"And as for Gamzee…" She paused. Her voice had an edge to it now, and she didn't want it to become obvious. "He's fine, I'm sure. He can take care of himself."

"I know, I know."

Was it just her imagination, or had Karkat shuffled closer when the topic of Gamzee had come up? Nah, it was probably nothing. She coughed slightly before continuing. "And the humans are alright. Like I said before, if they hadn't come along, who's to say something else wouldn't have happened? Maybe a race _even more annoying_ would have appeared."

"Oh, fuck. Don't even joke." Karkat laughed despite himself. "I don't think I couldn't handle it if there were beings in the universe more unbearable that Egbert and Strider."

"See?" she told him. "Your problems aren't even your problems. Just relax. You're doing fine as a leader, and as a friend." She intended it to sound light-hearted, but she tripped up on the word 'friend'. Karkat blushed and looked away.

"Thanks for this, Terezi. I… I needed someone tonight."

Okay, now he had definitely gotten closer. She could smell the dried tears on his cheeks. "No-um- no problem." She said, masking her awkwardness with a cheerful smile. "Anytime, Karcrab. Anytime."  
Karkat had also regained some of his usual (false) bravado: "And don't even fucking think about telling anyone else about this. Ever."  
"Damn, and I thought I had some blackmailing material here!"  
"Don't make me regret this, Pyrope!"

They laughed and fell into an easy silence. "Seriously, Karkat, any time you need a shoulder to cry on, give me a call. Or a shout. Or a whiny scream. Whatever it is you do." She joked.

"You can talk, what with all that weird as fuck cackling you do."

"Hey, I don't have to listen to your sob stories. I'll only do it if I can lick your tears away." She stuck out her tongue and wiggled it, still grinning.

"You are so fucking gross!"

"What? It's not my fault your candy tears are irresistible."

"Fuck you."

"Fuck you!"

There was another awkward silence. Terezi was suddenly acutely aware that Karkat was still holding her hand. He seemed to notice at that moment too, because he yanked his palm free abruptly, breathing hard. "I… uh… Sorry."

Terezi ran a hand through her hair and smiled sheepishly. "I don't mind."  
Karkat hesitated. "Then…" He broke off awkwardly, "Then do you mind if we hold hands again?"  
"Not at all." Terezi said, and held out her hand for him to take. Their fingers intertwined and Terezi let her arm drop into his lap before leaning her head on his shoulder. "What are you-?" Karkat almost pushed her off in his surprise. Terezi shushed him. "I'm tired. All this feelings stuff wears me out." She told him, eyes closed. Karkat nodded, positioning his shoulders so she wouldn't stab him with her ridiculously sharp horns. "O-okay. We can sleep here." He frowned to himself. Why was she always so weird?

"Good." She already sounded like she was drifting off. Her breathing slowed and he thought she was out, but suddenly she opened her eyes. "I'm glad I wandered in on you crying to yourself, Karkat." She mumbled before drooping back into slumber. He laughed.

"Yeah." He said. "Me too."

Soon they were both asleep, tangled up together in a mess of black clothing and grey limbs. Before he had allowed himself to drift off, Karkat planted a single kiss on the top of Terezi's head. She stirred slightly, but didn't wake. "I might be a little red for you, Terezi," he murmured into her hair. "I'll tell you that in the morning."

Karkat woke up in his room alone. He glanced round blearily, wondering if last night had been some weird, embarrassing dream. He stood up, using the wall for support, and his hand crunched on a piece of paper. It had been stuck there crudely, with something that may have been saliva. He wiped his hand on his shirt, cursing. Pyrope was gross. Seriously gross. The note was written in red crayon, and looked like it had been licked a few times. The words were hard to read, but he managed to decipher it.

1 KNOW :] 3

Sollux noted that Karkat was uncharacteristically happy that day.


End file.
